A 24-HOUR general strike has got underway in Greece as public workers protest against further austerity measures.

Public transport, government offices, schools and hospitals have all been affected by the state workers strike.

According to Reuters, the country’s main labour unions ADEDY and GSEE expected hundreds of thousands of people to take to the streets. About 1,000 police officers will be deployed in central Athens.

Today’s strike is the first since the Greek government announced an emergency property tax and the suspension of 30,000 public sector workers, reports the BBC.

Although the Government has asked the public to get behind austerity measures that will ensure the payment of bailout loans from the so-called Troika, people are angry.

Stuck in a deep recession, they have seen the cost of living rise, while their incomes have been slashed.

In a posting on GSEE’s website, the union calls on Greek leaders to “finally say no – loudly, clearly and firmly –  to the saviours from abroad,” namely the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Airliners have been grounded today with no flights taking off or landing at Greek airports. Public lawyers, doctors and dock workers have also walked off the job for 24 hours.

Hospitals will function on skeleton staff, while schools will remain closed for the day.

Trade unions have said that a “massive” general strike will also be held on October 19.

Bankruptcy

Greece has mere weeks left before it hits bankruptcy as the country only has enough money to pay pensions, salaries and bondholders until the middle of next month, Finance Minister Evangelo Venizelos said yesterday.

Previously, Greek leaders had said it would be bankrupt by mid-October if the next €8 billion tranche of its bailout loans was not released. On Monday, eurozone finance ministers delayed a decision on the money after Greece conceded it would not meet its budget deficit targets this year.

However, Venizelos said the government can tap contingency reserves to buy extra time until mid-November.

In his speech yesterday, he said Greece is at its “worst moment under the worst conditions” and it was dependent on the help and lending of their institutional partners.

“We have to make a super-human effort to win this wager of our times. There was this false sense of a standard of living that we, ourselves created,” the minister stressed. “What’s important now is to protect the country and to make clear and final decisions.”

According to the BBC, the European Commission is to meet later today to discuss safeguarding the European banking system.

-Additional reporting by AP

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